One of my sewing projects got hopelessly stalled last year because my Brother sewing machines had pretty hefty “free arms,” and I started looking for an inexpensive mechanical machine that had as narrrow a free arm as possible. I even looked at older machines on Facebook Marketplace (older machines used to have much narrower free arms because they had vertical bobbins in metal cases, not “drop in” bobbins.
Janome has a good reputation for quality, beginner level machines and I had seen one that appeared to have a much narrower free arm. So I bought a Janome “Cat Fancy” (Arctic Blue) because with a vertical bobbin case, the free arm looked positively slim.
Is it worth buying, and keeping, after I finish the silicone oven mitt project that I had to abandon because it was too small to fit over the free arms of my Brother sewing machines? We’ll find out.
And right out of the box, the mitt cuff fits with plenty of room to spare. That nearly complete mitt has been restitched at least 4 times and there are problems with fit inside, and the sewing lines have pretty well perforated the blank, but I have two more blanks. I’ll have to make new quilted linings and cuffs, but installing them may be a lot easier. I have to start over from scratch, but I was able to test how the Janome handles the thickness of sewing through the layers of fabric, batting, and silicone blank.
Some background: my very first Covid19 sewing machine was an entry level Pfaff 140 mechanical that I never really liked, so I traded it in on a Brother PS500 electronic that I LOVE. However, it has a slightly bigger arm with sharp angled corners; the Pfaff had chamfered edges and a free arm that was smaller around by about 1/2” in circumference.
I bought a second Brother, a mechanical BM3850 that is light and portable, but still had a bigger free arm than the Pfaff 140. I managed to complete 2 more mitts, usually by sewing from the inside rather than struggling with the free arm (the silicone sticks to plastic, which is ever so productive of strangled screams of frustration).
Recently, I’ve got at least 4 or 5 “works in progress” and I wanted to finish some of them this month for family members – which could include at least one oven mitt.
Some idle research on the topic of “what Brother sewing machine has the narrowest free arm” led to “what was that weird blue sewing machine with the vertical bobbin case that looked like a kids toy in bright jewel-like colors?”
And once I figured out that it was one of the Janome entry level “easy to use” line of entry level machines, and that the best price was at (wait for it) Amazon, and not Michael’s or (cough cough ::price gouge::) Joann’s “liquidation sale.”
It was a very slippery slope indeed once I saw the “Cat Fancy” variant. Can I get a SQUEE???
Oh, well, my Amazon fast was over on April Fool’s Day.
The bobbin case will take some getting used to, and I’ll probably never use this machine except for making something where the free arm is key. But it would be fun to pull out at a class or quilt guild meeting someday, or to take over to a family member’s house who wants something hemmed or repaired. I’ve got a little project for hemming something now, though I’ll use my favorite PS500 for that. Now waiting for a “rolled hem” foot, as it needs to be a teeny little hem on a light slippery knit. Having dealt with hemming some tulle gathered sheer curtains once, it’ll be easier with yet another presser foot.
As for the Cat Fancy model itself, and the other “Easy to Sew” models in the palette, it’s truly easy to set up aside from puzzling over the bobbin case, and properly installing a wound bobbin in it. Threading is easy, the settings are simple and clear, and I don’t give a rip that it’s a 4 step button hole; I don’t sew garments other than light repairs. I’ll be tackling something garment-like for the birthday girls later this month, but no buttonholes.
The “Ready-Set-Sew” instructions recommend pulling the bobbin thread up by turning the handwheel towards the front to raise the needle and fish up the lower thread with the upper thread, and to hold on to the long tails before lowering the needle. That was something I never did consistently with the Pfaff 140, with messy birds nests and thread knots, so now I’m trying to get in a better habit. The mechanical Brother also probably needs to be handled in a similar way.
Turning the handwheel is a little confusing, as there’s no detectable ridge or bump to give tactile feedback that the needle is up as high as it can go. Instead, I have to watch the needle, and the take-up lever that pulls the thread down from the spool, instead of relying on technology. I still need to test some of the stitches to see what they look like, and the next mitt I make, I’ll need to use the thinnest batting I’ve got, but I’m pretty sure the Cat Fancy will help me complete the projects in time.
The Janome Cat Fancy sewing machine is a quality entry-level model offered at a fantastic price! This mechanical machine features 15 built-in stitches and a four-step buttonhole. Dial pattern selection and stitch width and length adjustment ensure ease of use. Remove the accessory bin to reveal the great free arm feature…
Link: Cat Fancy
